You could tell them to send it to Stilly, who could flay it very fine and put it over her house. It would attract heat in winter, and expand when the weather got hot, providing insulation. Think about it! (Or maybe you would rather not.) It might take several of them, now that I think about it. Isn't this a nobler use to which to put this unexpected boon? Besides, the attachment costs will be much lower for her. The deductible on your health plan alone would pay for thousands of roofing tacks.

And I am sure you could always get another such offer, if you are very, very patient.

Hey Rap, think if we both call the same company at the same time we can get a deal on both jobs because of our (virtual) proximity? I need a new roof also.

Actually, the roofer I spoke to a week ago (before the insurance company denied the claim--heat, not hail, nailed my roof) stopped by yesterday with a sample--the same sample--that he showed me last week. I asked him about roofs tough enough to get me a discount with my insurance company, and this ain't it. He said "it depends on how long you'll be in the house," meaning if I put on a cheap roof now it's someone else's problem later if I'm planning to move soon. But I'm not planning to move, and I think spending $2000 more now, if it will save me 25% a year on insurance (that is a savings of over $500 a year) is a really good move. So I'm also going to get a second quote, from a roofer who has a little more initiative to offer alternatives. (The neighbors put on a new roof last year, different roofer, and I'll ask them about their resesarch. That guy is meticulous and probably got several quotes.)

If you thought bungee-jumping was enough to scare the pants off you, consider this:

"Thrill seekers could soon be lining up to make a jump of a lifetime - from the edge of space. The current high-altitude record for skydiving was set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger, whose jump from 31 kilometres above Earth remains unchallenged today. But now a team in California are hoping to break Kittinger's record by diving from as high as 100 kilometres. If everything goes as planned, paying passengers who wish to make the daring dive from space could do so as early as 2009..."

...I dunno....terminal velocity and the co-efficient of friction are much nastier than they are cracked up to be...

Hey MOM, I ordered my new glasses, pick 'em up tomorrow. I'm going for the lightweight titanium ones again, and smaller lenses. Now that I've been walking dogs for a couple of years I've concluded that the lighter the glasses the more likely they'll stay in place as we range high and low all around the neighborhood. Also when I'm doing some of my other stuff, like digging a new flower bed this weekend for all of my iris bulbs.

Yes, he was a member of the Legion. Back then discipline was much more lax (laxer?) than it is now, and for his thievery he was simply stood up against a wall and shot. Today things would be much worse. "The Legion Does Not Tolerate Stealing From Its Own" and the Legion dug the hole for the original Library Outhouse.

IF so, he probably didn't bring it up in the application or interview process. Much as Mike loves cataloguing the misadventures of the hoary rascals of the Legion, I don't think he would go so far as to propose hiring one of them.

minutes of the Library Board for 1911 also report that "(the janitor) was found in a drunken state Aug. 24, he had broken open the money drawer and taken $30. Three nights later he broke out the front of the drawer... He was arrested...."

Well, if I had to log in I might try 3898 as a login and 2082321263 as a password. But that would be a "might try" and it might not work. But if it DID work I'd also look at last Sunday's front page and Insight sections.